Category: Elias Amor Bravo

The Castro regime mixes concepts in this way that are unrelated to each other: digitization, knowledge and socialism. Three legs for a table that will necessarily wobble, from the first moment.

It occurs to me that fighting the digital divide from Cuban socialism has a downside; that is, instead of developing the most advanced and innovative skills that exist in the field of new technologies, it is intended to extend literacy in basic skills, as was done in 1960; that is, to teach the four rules [Input, Processing, Storage and Output] and then, with the propaganda of the state press, tell everyone that In Cuba there are no digital breaches. And the bad thing about all this is that they believe it.

In reality, the Union of Computer Scientists has little to do to get out from under the clutches of the regime. And like the vast majority of organizations that barely survive in the Castro regime — I’m thinking of the ANAP [National Association of Small Farmers] — it will continue to play the same game of “support and commitment to continue supporting the revolutionary government in the process of digital transformation of society within socialism,” as recognized by Febles Estrada, president of the Union, before President Díaz-Canel, at the closing of the assembly of the organization at the Palacio de Convenciones.

That’s what the regime wants. Organizations aligned with their objectives to meet political goals that later end up being forgotten or openly violated. Everything else, which is really necessary, such as the professional and cultural growth of the members of the organization, takes a back seat. Obeying, from unity, is essential so that conflicts do not occur. It is not surprising that the assembly of computer scientists talked about voting together on March 26. I’m afraid that from now on we’re going to talk about this even at dinner.

At the same event, Díaz-Canel highlighted the importance of supporting the concept of the development of a digital society and knowledge. It must be evaluated positively, if we take into account that two or three years ago the concepts of computerization and digitization were confused, confirming a notable delay of the regime leadership on the subject of new technologies. It seems that they have been brought up to date, but the distance that Cuba maintains with respect to the technological challenges of the fourth industrial revolution is still remarkable.

And what would be the alternative for a really beneficial Union of Computer Scientists for Cuban society?

Let’s get to it with a few brief brushstrokes. Of course, computer professionals and new technologies are a source of creation for entrepreneurial projects that can generate business opportunities, not only in the present, but in the future.

The professional field of digitization services is advancing in all sectors in all countries and could pose opportunities for openness to foreign investment. The creation of startups of this type of services on the Island could serve to accumulate enough critical mass to generate more business projects, not only in the field of video games, but also in cybersecurity, the digitization of physical spaces, or telemedicine and the care of the elderly, among other things.

It would be a matter of betting on an international projection of the sector that would allow foreign capital to access concrete opportunities within the Island without state interference, at the same time that Cuban professionals are provided with exchanges with the outside world to advance in the creation of joint business projects.

In terms of training and qualification, we must also bet on the most advanced technologies of the fourth industrial revolution, intensifying exchanges with world-leading training centers. In short, the development of the sector should be coupled with a progressive consolidation of digital services in the economy, of course actively fighting against the digital divide and raising the level of the Cuban population and society, facilitated by initiatives for the structural transformation of the economy.

Have we seen anyone who in any of these initiatives needs a ministry or a government behind it for something? Not at all. This sector, that of new technologies, started in many countries in the garages of homes in the suburbs and with little capital. Talent is key, and in Cuba it exists. Unfortunately, the communist regime is not in favor of that kind of work. Its objectives do not go beyond mere alliances with Cuban civil society organizations, or with institutions such as the World Institute for Software Quality and Linux (free operating system), in addition to helping territorial development and little else. It’s an agenda for professionals of new technologies in Cuba controlled by the State and at the service of socialism.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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All of the above is the fault of the blockade/embargo. The argument is hilarious. Trump banned the entry of cruise ships into Cuba and that is why the income in hard currency that served to finance the maintenance of transport was reduced. In addition, licenses were withdrawn from Cubana de Aviación to lease planes (the company does not have its own), and limited international flights reduced income in hard currency, as did “the crackdown on fuel transports, preventing the planned operations from being carried out.”

The blockade/embargo always appears in the analyses of the problems, to which is added the global crisis (provoked by Cuba’s ally, Putin) that also affects hard currency income. At the same time, the prices of maritime freight transport increased. The combined effect of the reduction in income in hard currency, together with the increase in expenses in these currencies, forced the regime to define food, fuel and medicines as priorities. Despite this, it was not possible to attend to transport and its infrastructure from the financial point of view.

The problem, in the end, is that transport is a service that is charged in national currency but that requires hard currency for its acquisition and maintenance. This is a serious problem of the Cuban economy, which in other countries of the world is non-existent and is solved. The Cuban transport sector is another victim of the exchange system designed by the Ordering Task.

From this presentation of the general situation, the minister addressed the analysis of the problems that characterize transport today, and the focus returned to the internal situation and the economic model.

He cited the deficient regulation of the prices charged by the different state and non-state economic actors, the violations of the parameters of regular services, such as route diversions, breaches of schedules, mistreatment of passengers, transport of cargo and of more passengers than allowed, illicit purchases of tickets, speeding, deficient work of the inspectors and indisciplines and violations.

He mentioned the long-term paralysis of vehicles, whose parts are used to keep others working, with effects of theft and embezzlement, and the indolence and lack of sensitivity of drivers of state vehicles who avoid stops and don’t obey the instructions of the inspectors.

He painted a really devastating picture in which the regime is concerned about procedures and resources but not the results. Thus, he cited activities such as the process of approval and legalization of armoured vehicles in all provinces, the implementation of regulations that regulate the leasing of state transport and eliminate the obstacles that prevent the provision of services by all entities; the management of bus donations from Japan or Belgium; the implementation of electric tricycles and bicycles of the United Nations Development Program Neomobility Project and the minibuses removed from tourism and incorporated into service in the capital. Leftovers for the population.

He also mentioned the contracting of a ferry for the Island of Youth that has not yet begun its activity, the maintenance of the national train service and services in various provinces. And other decisions, such as the adaptation of class schedules at the Technological University of Havana and the University of Havana to guarantee a differentiated transport of students and teachers with Transmetro and Escolares. He referred to the launch of the Beta application of Urban MW to offer information, in real time, about the services provided by the public transport routes of the Havana Transport Company and announced the completion of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan of Havana. In short, all actions on the means of transport, but nothing about the results.

The minister offered the ministry’s projections for 2023:

• • Continue to improve work with the cadres at all levels of the system and advance in training, strengthening work links with universities and scientific research projects based on sustainable mobility.
  • Strengthen organizational measures to optimize the limited resources of the sector and advance in the computerization of all services and procedures; for example, automate. Implement the new administrative structure of transport activity in the provinces, which will provide a better organization and control of passenger transport in the country, including non-state transport.
  • Develop and promote mobility projects with external financing, including the generalization of electric and hybrid buses in public transport and the use of electric tricycles on short routes in all provinces of the country, and promote actions to reduce the demand for transportation at peak times through the adjustment of schedules, remote work and teleworking.
  • Continue to work on the adjustment of prices, fares and subsidies for all passenger transportation services provided by state entities and non-state forms of management. Increase the use of state vehicles and extend the experience of using tricycles in the capital to other provinces.
  • Continue actions that are already underway, such as concluding the dredging of the Port of Batabanó and putting into service the ferry between Batabanó and Nueva Gerona; continue to work on the restoration and improvement of the infrastructure in airports, terminals, stations, transport stops and route maps; conclude the process of legalization of armoured vehicle parts; perfect the mode of leasing state vehicles; continue the incorporation of low-tourist minibuses in the capital to pay for the Rutero service [shared taxis] and continue with the railway bus manufacturing program for rural areas.
  • Authorize the urgent import of tires, batteries, engine parts, spare parts and other components that are needed for the restoration of those means of transport that can be quickly implemented.

At this point in the program, the minister reported on the publication in the Extraordinary Official Gazette 16, of Decree 83, which updates the legislation on the transmission of ownership of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers, in addition to their import and marketing. He said “it serves to empower economic actors, eliminate obstacles that hinder the performance of state and non-state entities as well as favor foreign investment.”

First, the wholesale sale in hard currency of new and second-hand motor vehicles was authorized to all Cuban and foreign legal entities (state companies, foreign firms, cooperatives, small and medium-sized companies, etc.). The sale price of the vehicles will not exceed the acquisition cost with a 30% commercial margin. Once again, the Cuban peso is left out of economic transactions.

Second, tax measures were incorporated. Natural persons must pay a special tax when they buy more than two vehicles (only for motorcycles and light vehicles including vans). The State collects more and more.

Third, retail sales of new and second-hand motor vehicles in hard currency were maintained, for all Cuban and foreign naturals living in Cuba, at the reference prices of the Cuban market, which will be adjusted every six months.

Fourth, the current power restriction (up to 1,000 watts) on electric motorcycles was eliminated, and the possibility of directly importing a sidecar by natural persons and motorcycles with the sidecar was authorized.

Fifth, the fund for the development of public transport was maintained as a destination for the income from the application of the special tax, both from retail sales and the new one on wholesale sales.

And sixth, the acquisition of electric vehicles, both retail and wholesale, was favored by price.

The minister spoke about the creation of infrastructure for charging from renewable energies and the recovery of vehicles discharged from tourism for commercialization as an alternative to their disappearance. He also explained that the change of chassis of compatible brands and models will be allowed and that there will be new technical requirements for imports.

The scope of the measures of this decree is so great that some analysts have wondered if the regime is not encouraging the birth of an automobile market in Cuba, but in hard currency, not in pesos, to increase the country’s level of motorized vehicles, now one of the lowest in the world.

It doesn’t seem like toasts are happening, because the minister ended by saying, about the complexity of his ministry, “We constantly have to face moving all the milk and flour in the country from the west to the east. And bring the salt from Guantánamo to the west.” If this is complex for the communist state, a piece of advice. The solution is very easy: let that activity be done exclusively by the private sector.

Translator’s notes:

*The 1987 Turquino Plan was implemented to link Cubans living in the remote, mountainous areas and to develop these regions economically. Pico Turqino is the highest point in Cuba, at 6,476 feet.

**The Ordering Task is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Díaz Canel attended the auction — it is not well known in what form and on what terms, but there at Pabexpo the closing of the festival was just as (or more) spectacular than the inauguration. The communist leaders wanted to have fun after two years. Five days passed in which the regime spared no expense to satisfy international lovers of the appreciated cigars, but the lines for cooking oil remain just as long, and the blackouts continue to strike like lightning. In other words, a festival like this doesn’t change the lamentable living conditions of the Cuban people.

The auction is a metaphor for how far the regime devised by Fidel Castro 64 years ago has come. According to the state press, numerous bettors participated who, in an estimated figure of a thousand attendees, witnessed the bids in euros for six lots of the most exquisite cigars of the Upmann, Hoyo de Monterrey, Montecristo, Romeo and Julieta, Partagás and Cohiba brands. Not even in the times of the great Onassis have things this tremendous been seen.

There were also awards for the best stands at the trade fair organized during the cigar festival in a ceremony at the convention palace. The awards and special mentions for the stands, which, of course, came out of the Cuban state budget, were divided into four categories: most visited, free design, modular design and integral communication. In addition, recognition was given to the novelty of the product of the Ron Legendario Special Reservation stand. A lot of people had to be rewarded so that everyone was happy, at colossal expense.

Comercial Iberoamericana SA won the awards for the most visited stand, free design and integral communication. Free design special mentions were given to Guayaberas Cohiba Atmosphere and Brascuba SA. The modular design award went to La Estancia SA, while Havana Club International SA received the special mention of integral communication.

In addition, the Cats of Greece, the team made up of Antonis Pasparakis and Efthimios Karachristianidis, defeated Sanel Haddad and Hassan Tameemi, the Falcons of Kuwait, in the final of the fourth edition of the Habanos World Challenge, held at the palace of conventions, which also came out of the Cuban state coffers (because Habanos is the same, let no one doubt it, when it comes to paying).

And then came the gala dinner with musical performance included (plus expenses on the State’s account) with the presence of former Prime Minister Marrero, well known for his culinary faculties. The Partagás brand was honored, and it presented its new Master Line made up of three cigar band signatures: Origin, Rite and Master.

The best tribute that the communist regime could make to Partagás would be to return the company to its legitimate heirs and compensate them for the confiscation carried out in the early 1960s. But no one talked about that, not even some Catalan businessmen who attended the event, and who were unaware that Jaume Partagás was their fellow countryman. Many years have passed in favor of the communist regime, so we have to take advantage of these occasions to remember and convey the truth so that future generations know the magnitude of the horror.

With the end of the festival, the regime’s commercial economic consortium gave the order to start the sale of Cuban cigars worldwide. Habanos S.A., euphoric about the success of the product last year, wants to increase sales, and even though production has been lower than expected because the farmers prefer to grow beans since they can charge more than for the tobacco leaf, Habanos is confident about increasing the price of a luxury product that increasingly has as users the profile of those great fortunes in the world that the Castro regime considers as enemies. That’s life.

In addition to the awards, auctions and gala dinners with live musical performances, the cigar festival hosted presentations of new cigars, the International Seminar, visits to tobacco plantations, tours of the Partagás and La Corona factories and the traditional trade fair. All this was financed, partly by the attendees, but with the secure and necessary collaboration of the regime, with a high-scale marketing budget. Knowing how much that necessary cooperation of the regime received from the empty coffers of the communist state would be convenient for responsibility and transparency. Nobody believes that this type of party happens for free.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The state press pursued Díaz Canel and Murillo at the inauguration in the Cuban capital of the twenty-third cigar festival that, in order to spare no expense, will go on until next Saturday, March 4. A week to enjoy, at the expense of Habanos SA and the regime, the excellence of the best product of the Island since colonial times.

Along with white gold [sugar], Cuba was internationally recognized for the quality of its tobacco from the first tobacco planters of my beloved and never forgotten Santiago de las Vegas, a municipality that stood up to the cigar stores of the metropolis, to the painstaking  growers of the Vuelta Bajo region in Pinar del Río. The cigar business has survived the revolution amazingly well, and there it continues, on its feet, demonstrating what Cuba can and could do in many other areas of commerce.

So in the most triumphant tone one can imagine and with the whining far away, Díaz Canel and Murillo dedicated themselves to public relations, and at the press conference at the Palacio de Convenciones, they recreated themselves with the economic results of the Habanos SA monopoly and presented the company’s management balance sheet for 2022 with great fanfare. Some discovered a Murillo who was much more relaxed than in the time of the Ordering Task.** It’s what the elite do far from the spotlight.

As it is not an embargoed, blockaded, or besieged nation, there at the press conference the world was informed from Cuba that Spain, France, Germany, China and Switzerland were the five main markets for the cigars last year. How good it would have been to include the United States. The leaders limited themselves to saying that only the order of the nations had changed with respect to 2021. Not a reference to the northern neighbor. Neither good nor bad.

Among the activities of the festival, in addition to the visit of businessmen and tycoons from half the world, who arrive in their private jets to the besieged Island and stay in the new hotels with astronomical prices, visits to Habana factories and tobacco plantations were scheduled in the western province of Pinar del Río as the state press says, and I admit, “internationally recognized as the land of the best tobacco in the world.”

Also in that framework of a besieged and embargoed nation, the state monopoly presented the novelties of the event, basically the launches of the Montecristo Open, Bolívar New Gold Medal and Master Line (banded) products. Innovation continues to be a fundamental element of the creativity of Cuban tobacco merchants, which makes you wonder what this sector could be like if there were no communist economic model governing the destinies of the economy and the nation.

Malmierca, minister of foreign trade and foreign investment, also walked through the festival and ended up destroying the argument of the embargo/blockade by reporting at the press conference that the fair has 2,000 attendees from 110 countries, 250 exhibitors from 10 other countries and 6,459 square feet of exhibition space. Figures like these would not be possible in an embargoed country.

Malmierca welcomed exhibitors from Italy, Hungary, Spain, Panama, Mexico, Costa Rica, Canada, Ecuador and China, including Cuban exhibitors. Of the 70 stands at the fair, 59 are Cuban, who, as Malmierca said, “show the varied offers of our country in the field of crafts, cultural and musical production, fashion, tourism, gastronomy and also everything related to cigars.”

Malmierca pointed out that “this trade fair will be an ideal framework for technical and commercial exchanges between companies, suppliers and the public that will be able to have access to the exhibition,” but those exchanges will be only for certain companies, basically the state ones, those that live within the regime.

I wish that the exchanges would serve Cuban private companies, guided by the motive of profit and profitability, but the regime’s internal blockade is another thing, the worst of all.

Translated by Regina Anavy

Translator’s notes:

*Marino Murillo is the Former Minister of Economy and Planning.
**The Ordering Task is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy. 
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At this point, there are many doubts. What will the care program for the infertile couple or the modernization of equipment for assisted reproduction centers have to do with the accelerated aging of the population? What is the point of territorial governments having to allocate more resources to the construction and maintenance of childcare centers, the construction of homes for mothers with three children or more, as well as housing needs, when the urgency is in a population that is growing older?

There is the impression that the regime mixes policies, actions and resources that should have a different design for more effective execution. It doesn’t know what to do and relegates everything to public spending.

It’s not a matter of complexity of Cuban demographic dynamics, but of correctly interpreting trends and needs and providing effective and efficient solutions. There is a lot of work to do before blaming the embargo, that is what is called the blockade, for the problems of aging, which is what they always end up doing.

Fundamental aspects for the elderly population, such as active aging and unwanted loneliness, are absent and irrelevant in the solutions proposed by the communist regime. And yet, experts indicate that they determine the success of policies aimed at older people in all countries that share the same problem.

Active aging allows people to enjoy more years, with better health and physical condition. And this can happen in Cuba by reorienting the health system towards the elderly, which will require very important investments. The standard of living of older people in Cuba, with pensions of very low purchasing power, compromises the objective of active aging. The elderly are a vulnerable group, living precariously at the expense of the regime’s inefficiencies.

The extension of the working age can alleviate the situation of poverty associated with retirement. Promoting the professional figure of seniors in companies and in education and training can serve to alleviate the negative effects of aging. But there are many more things to do, and in Cuba, these solutions neither exist nor are anticipated.

As for unwanted loneliness, it is a threat that falls on the elderly in a particularly intense way. The situation in Cuba is very bad, because young family members need to leave the country in search of new horizons. They leave behind the elders, who barely survive thanks to the remittances they receive from abroad.

Those elderly who lose their family and friends experience unwanted loneliness that negatively influences their living conditions and introduces great suffering when their immediate relatives are prohibited from returning to the Island due to regime sanctions, as has happened in the recent history of Cuba. That unwanted loneliness is not discussed in the actions designed by the authorities, because offering “parents’ houses” to address this problem means they have no idea what to do.

Let no one be fooled. The Cuban communist regime’s response to the needs of older adults comes too late and is ill-conceived. The effect of the waste of public money will be practically zero, especially considering that their policies to promote the birth rate will be difficult to implement.

The leaders have to recognize the origin of the problem that grips Cuban society and face its solution with appropriate actions that don’t depend on the management of public spending. It’s not possible to allocate public spending to social policies that are directly related to the standard of living and well-being of the population; in short, the economy. The problem is that no matter what they do, it’s too late.

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

who sadly left their lives behind. That image of a predatory and vengeful customs remained for decades, and many Cubans remember it that way.

Customs, in this case, which guards the Island, has committed terrible crimes such as the incident of the 13th of March tugboat, at a much later date, where murder was committed against young children. This work of surveillance and control of territorial waters to prevent the flight of Cubans has been a source of atrocities that have never been punished, and which in many cases are not even known.

But true, the years are passing and on February 5, General Customs turned 60, and for that reason Randy Alonso invited to his Roundtable program on State TV William Pérez, deputy head of Customs; Yamila Martínez, general director of Customs Processes; David Fernández, director of Technologies and Infocommunications and Glenda González, secretary of the Communist Youth Union.

Tremendous program. There, some keys were given to “orient” the audience on the functioning of Customs in the service of the communist regime. As a starting point, the reference to political-ideological work, “in the interest of strengthening the institutional image and strengthening the sense of belonging of workers” gives a good idea that Customs, far from being governed by technical criteria, does so by the communist party, no more or less than the rest of the inefficient monstrosity of the state.

Some facts are surprising. Of those employed, 66% are young and 70% are women. This attraction of young people is apparently attributed to a youth detachment called 60 Socialist Customs, composed of the 60 most prominent young people in the country; the development of an internal festival of amateur artists; and other communication and information actions.

For Customs managers, this web that traps young people in its service is a positive point and, as could not be otherwise, most of them come from the Comminist Youth Union, which even has a secretariat in Customs, to ensure ideological purity. The young people of Customs must be proud to be part of the “60 Socialist Customs” detachment, cited above, and must participate in the activities organized outside their specific activity in Customs by monitoring the borders.

A piece of advice to these young people. Don’t have too many illusions. No matter how efficient and quality Customs services are, this entity would have its days numbered in a democratic, free country and, of course, with another economic model, in line with what happens in other countries. The communist customs that has worked with its light and dark tones in these six decades could not remain the same in a democratic and free country. Let them think that their working lives are not going to end there.

On the Roundtable program the purposes of Customs were reported to be facilitate customs policy, consolidate the customs confrontation system (together with the Ministry of the Interior), eliminate of obstacles, simplify of procedures, and the develop the integrated system of attention to the population, which has been an important handle to perfect the work.

It was said that the employees come from the Higher Customs Technician course, which this year in its third edition graduated more than 300 people. In other words, Customs has been operating for 60 years, but only in the last three years has there been for training professional specialists. Ask yourself where the previous employees came from. They have announced for 2024 a Bachelor of Law with a Customs profile, which would promote the improvement of the labor force of that organization. For human resources and qualification, this all very recent.

And of course. Customs, following the guidelines of Díaz-Canel’s doctoral thesis, also has a sectoral program in science, technology and innovation and computerization.

From this preamble, the functions of Customs began to be defined, and the first task is border security. I remind you again, Europe does not have customs in 27 countries, and that security requirement does not exist. Something doesn’t fit here.

In this case, Customs in Cuba exists to “prevent acts of terrorism, drug trafficking, smuggling and other demonstrations that threaten the security of people and the environment. To do this, and to the extent that international crime becomes more sophisticated, the preparation of human forces has had to be improved and the borders have been equipped with new technologies.” So, what does the police, state security and the entire repressive apparatus of the communist regime do that is any different? Will we not be facing an eventual duplication of functions?

They also explained that to provide better service they are in a process of updating regulations and simplifying customs processes, which in Cuba means more bureaucracy, obstacles and obstructions. Contributions such as the Single Customs Window were cited, which they say allows the management of documents, procedures and collections for foreign trade, mainly imports and exports that are carried out digitally.

Another step of alleged flexibility is the consolidation of the Authorized Economic Operator program, conceived and promoted by the World Customs Organization, to facilitate trade. It classifies entities with high security standards in their logistics chain. In reality, these globally competitive entities have very little to do with customs processes. And Cuba is an island.

They said that, since last August, two rules have been published that have allowed the increase of the import capacity by the passenger and shipping route. These are Resolutions 175 and 176 of 2022. With these measures, it is intended to better carry out risk studies and the management of Customs to the fundamental lines of confrontation, and to not be so much concerned with counting and seeing other goods that are not of priority interest and, ultimately, to solve problems for the population. There have also been changes and new procedures with the six freight forwarders that operate cargo from non-natives. As a result, postal clearance was automated.

More bureaucratic work. The advance passenger information form in digital format was implemented, in conjunction with the Ministry of Transport and other agencies that exercise border control, and the Predespacho Pasajero APK has been developed and updated, which allows passengers to organize their luggage before arriving in Cuba.

It’s a network of controls and interventions to prevent anything from escaping the control of Customs. There are no data from surveys of citizens who are subjected to customs controls when they arrive in the country. I suggest such a quality survey because at this time they would get some surprises. And in the end, let no one be deceived, it should not be forgotten that behind the customs racket there is a collection purpose.

In fact, that collection power is the main justification for the customs that survive in the world. In particular, in the Cuban case as if it were a gracious decision of power, it was reported that the tariff benefit that authorizes, exceptionally and temporarily, the non-commercial import, without limits in its value and exempt from payment of customs duties, food, toiletries and medicines will remain in force until next June 30.

And, until March 31 of this year, the tariff benefit that exceptionally authorizes non-commercial importation, above the value established for air, sea, postal and courier shipments, of power plants with a power greater than 900 watts.

After that, it will be collected again.

It was finally reported that Customs is also being digitized in an alliance with the University of Computer Sciences that will be realized in eight projects to manage customs processes, the deployment of a tool for administrative procedures and the computerization of the Customs school. They are working on artificial intelligence projects for the integration of technologies (scanning, image and information processing) and the improvement of cybersecurity. And what about state security? Won’t it be connected? Let me know. In the program, not a single word was said about the cost of this to the state coffers and, above all, the measurement of the effectiveness of its services. Randy didn’t even ask about that. Too bad.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

Indicators have caused the alarm, in the face of what is described as an increasingly complex situation (another one) in the words of Cuban Prime Minister Marrero, who, to this end, has announced the creation of a “governmental commission to look into it.”

The situation is aggravated by other coincident and surprising factors, such as the decrease in the working-age population and the economically active population, the increase in urbanization, despite the decrease in the urban population, and the increase in the average number of people per household.

The combination of factors is so negative that now the communist leaders also recognize that “in many places there is a lack of attention, beyond the absence of resources, and these are extremely sensitive issues.” There is the feeling that, once again, they arrive late for problems and will not succeed if they don’t make a 180-degree turn in their performance.

Because getting out of the demographic winter in a nation as economically committed as Cuba is not just a matter of pulling public spending and having material and financial resources incorporated into the state plan and budget, by agencies and territories. Those who think that the 2,113 million pesos, recorded in the public accounts for 2023, will be of some use are wrong.

But when you look at the destiniation of that money, the immediate question is: What does it have to do with the recovery of the population that is needed? Let’s see. There is public money for “resources for stomatological prostheses, hearing aids, care for the infertile couple and modernization of equipment for assisted reproduction centers.” Also for the training and attention to the education of the elderly, development of workshops, events and other improvement actions. Are there resources? Yes, of course, the earnings and salaries of employees who serve people. And little else. Current expenditure.

This plan of the regime coincides with the one that aroused our attention a few days ago when the recovery was announced by territorial governments of childcare centers, nursing homes, maternal homes and grandparents’ homes, the construction of homes for mothers with three children or more, as well as housing needs in rural areas, taking advantage of abandoned communist infrastructures such as schools in the countryside.

Who can think that the increase in children’s facilities can be used to increase the birth rate, when the Cuban woman knows that it makes very little sense to bring children into a country where they will have no other future than fleeing into exile when they are older? Despite the systemic waste of expenses, the regime is to blame for having only met half of the requests for childcare centers. The solution is easy: stop building hotel rooms.

The initiative of the opening of children’s homes in labor entities, that is, companies, will be subject to inequalities because it will only be possible for those workers who provide their services in those companies with the capacity to create these classrooms. Before incorporating companies into the service, availability must be ensured for everyone. Communists think of companies rather than of setting up a form of self-employment as a childcare assistant. A formula that they don’t like because they say it’s unfair according to their ideological code. One yes, the other no.

At the meeting of the authorities, an evaluation kit in geriatrics and gerontology was also presented for use in health institutions, to address aging, which contains a glucose meter, a digital equipment to take pressure and an oximeter, among others, prepared by the company Combiomed Digital Medical Technology. It is thought that this is a basic module that should exist in any population care center, because it is not only for the sick, it is also for studying population, early diagnosis and follow-up.

At the meeting, the proposal for the improvement of care schools was also presented, which will have the responsibility to train caregivers, paid or unpaid, to provide them with the knowledge, skills and aptitudes, that allow them to provide care with the highest possible quality.

Flailing around. Not one on the target. The fight against the fall of the population does not depend on these kinds of laboratory initiatives, but on the basis of a prosperous economy in which everyone takes part. Curving the depressive dynamics of the population does not depend on public spending, but on the creation of powerful and solvent private activities and sectors that pay good wages and improve the quality of life and prosperity of the people. Communists entertain themselves with their resource objectives, pecking here and there, but in this type of action, the only thing that matters is the results.

However, the leaders assure that demographic problems will be solved in the medium and long term with some euphoria, but they also say that “the fight will be difficult and discouragement must be avoided if the population patterns are to be changed” to which the governors, the mayors and the councils of the administration of municipalities and provinces must remain attentive. More work. Will it work?

Translated by Regina Anavy

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You have to ask what foreign investor would want to form a cooperative with Cubans or what the point would be of opening this organizational form to capital, when its priority is the labor factor. In fact, the cooperative distributes its benefits among the workers for its own raison d’être. How can the foreign investor gain income as one more cooperative participant? Who came up with this absurd idea?

We are not against foreign capital, which is fundamental for technology, organization, finance and many aspects of the economic process. But what we are against is the regime’s policy of royalties to foreign investors from the nation’s productive capital, until now, 90% state. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate for that productive capital to be privately owned by establishing a respectable legal framework for property rights?

The Cuban economy cannot reach its potential if the assets aren’t private. There is no point in nonsense activities such as vegetal charcoal, honey, cocoa and coffee, or nature tourism. The Foreign investor wants to know with whom he will risk his money and technology, and this does not depend only on the qualification of the experienced workforce or the existence of research centers. The legal framework of property rights is fundamental, and if the multiple unknowns that exist are not clear, foreign investment will not grow.

The Cuban agricultural sector is far from attractive to the foreign investor, but if it were exploited by the private sector as a whole, the results would be very different. It is unheard of that in 2023 and with the problems of lack of food in Cuba, almost 20% of the farmland is not in use. Long-term leases have not served to grow production, because the farmer and rancher want the means of production to be their property. Why is the foreigner allowed to take over the means of production for investment while nationals are prohibited? How long can this discrimination that doesn’t exist in any other country in the world be maintained?

The regime should be aware that increasing production, reducing imports and creating more exportable resources is not achieved with foreign investment. There are the results of tourism. The national private sector must assume ownership of property rights and lead the national economy. Vietnam did it and left its famine behind.

Foreign capital doesn’t give a damn about reducing the gap between the countryside and the city, creating better living conditions in rural areas or fixing the problem of housing and infrastructure. This could be driven by an economy of private agents, oriented by private property and the market to allocate resources.

There is no alternative model because communism went into crisis after the collapse of the Berlin wall, and no one gives it the least viability. Turning 180 degrees and beginning in the Cuban countryside makes perfect sense. It would be a good way to forget about that traumatic experience of the Agrarian Reform Law and start over. It’s never too late if the ideas are the right ones.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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The upward profile of inflation throughout the year is detected when it is found that the monthly increases were smaller at the beginning of the year, growing continuously from the second half of the year. This is a direct consequence, not only of the shortage of supply of goods and services that it has been planning all year round about price tension, but also of the effect of greater public spending that increases as the year progresses, generating the problems of lack of monetary control that feed inflation.

But, in addition, inflation in Cuba over the last two years has broken the foundations of the functioning of the economy in a very prominent way. In 2021, the year-on-year rate was 77.3% as a result of the impact of the Ordering Task.* In 2022, it grew by 39.07%, as mentioned above.

To know the impact of this rise in inflation in two consecutive years, let’s think of a salary of 3,000 pesos on January 1, 2021. Its purchasing power at that time was equivalent to 3,000 pesos, but with inflation of 77% in 2021, that purchasing power in December was equivalent to 690 pesos.

Throughout 2022, with inflation of 39.07%, those 690 pesos would have become 420 pesos. In other words, the 3,000 pesos of January 1, 2021 would have an equivalent purchasing power of 420 pesos on December 31, 2022. The accumulated loss would be 86%. The purchasing capacity of Cubans, with the average index, decreased by 86% since January 1, 2021, but obviously it would be much greater if the data of the Food and non-alcoholic beverages component are taken into account. However, economists measure purchasing power with the general index, which has caused that erosion of 86% in salary, or pension.

This erosion of the purchasing power of nominal incomes also hits bank deposits and any other asset that Cubans possess, because inflation is an unfair, asymmetric tax, which hits the most disadvantaged groups more intensely, as is happening in Cuba. You have to imagine the distortion that requires business accounting to continually update income and costs so as not to lose competitiveness. A true chaos.

In addition, analyzing the individual behavior of the prices that make up the “basket” that defines Cuba’s CPI, surprising results are obtained. The products that see prices rise the most intensely are the basic foods red and black beans (13% and 10%, respectively), and toilet paper, 10.65%, another product of necessity.

Inflation falls harshly on the most disadvantaged groups, whose incomes and pensions are lower, to cope with these uncontrolled prices. ONEI emphasizes that tomatoes with a drop of 18% or peppers, with 5.8%, were the products that experienced the greatest price declines.

There is then miscellaneous data on price increases during the month of December for other products, such as pork, 8.1%, ham, 6.3%, snacks 7.8%, breakfast, 4.68%; in addition to the toilet paper already indicated is the application of dyes at 6.1%.

The data underpin the difficulty of the economic scenario, in which price increases are combined with lower economic growth, which points to a complex situation of stagnation, for which the solution can be much more complex. There is the sense that communist leaders are being condescending with the evolution of inflation and aren’t seriously engaged in fighting against a serious evil that distorts prices and wages, the value of assets — in short, the functioning of the economy.

 *Translator’s note: The “Ordering Task” is a collection of measures that include eliminating the Cuban Convertible Peso (CUC), leaving the Cuban peso as the only national currency, raising prices, raising salaries (but not as much as prices), opening stores that take payment only in hard currency, which must be in the form of specially issued pre-paid debit cards, and a broad range of other measures targeted to different elements of the Cuban economy. 

Translated by Regina Anavy 

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

It’s not necessary to publish a myriad of legal norms, but to go to the origin of the problem that blocks agricultural production in Cuba. It is not a matter of applying partial solutions to “move the earth,” but of listening to and attending to the voices of the Cuban guajiros, who insist on producing food in spite of the countless obstacles, the main one being the availability of land and the dependence on communist political decisions for the viability of their production.

In essence, the problems of poor contracting with the productive base, defaults on payments or low prices that don’t serve to buy crops from peasants and cooperatives, and many more that affect the lack of food in the ration stores and markets, have their origin in the concentration of land ownership in the hands of the state and the weakness of the land delivery model, as a patch solution, to a structural problem. What’s needed is to modify the communist constitution of 2019.

If such access to private property is not regulated, and the appropriate legal guarantees not established, which requires a Basic Land Ownership Law, the rest of the legislative and regulatory activity of the Ministry of Agriculture will be worthless pieces of paper and won’t help resolve the conflicts arising from the existing legal framework since the land confiscations of the 1960s. The Vietnamese were the last to turn around the land rights framework with the Doi Moi reforms and in five years became the main exporter of cereals in Asia.

What has the Ministry of Agriculture been working on in 2022?

The list of topics gives an idea of how far the regulator is from the needs of the sector. The famous “63 measures” that have not served to boost agriculture and the “28 of livestock” have been a good example of failure. Little has been known about the update of Decree 225/1997 on personal violations of the regulations for the control and registration of livestock and purebred breeds through the approval of Decree 70/2022, except that they exist.

The Law on Promotion and Development of Livestock, which updates a 1974 regulation, approved at the last session of the National Assembly, has been in force for a short time, but there are serious doubts that it serves to produce more (the cattle are still owned by the state). The same goes for the approval by the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, respectively, of the Decree-Law and the Decree regulation, which implement the policy for the production, development and use of biofertilizers, biostimulants and biopesticides for agricultural use, or the new draft Decree-Law of Agricultural Cooperatives.

Also highlighted is the May 2022 Law on Food Sovereignty and Security and the subsequent plan of July, which is described as “a decisive step not only in the interest of the protection of the right of everyone to healthy and adequate food, but also to strengthen and perfect the processes that go from production to the consumption of food, based on the endogenous capacities of each territory.” But the fact is that food problems not only continue, but have also been exacerbated by prices that go far beyond the purchasing power of wages and pensions.

Likewise, work is being done on the updating of the Turquino Plan Policy, the development of the decrees that will implement the Agrarian Extension and Agroecology policies, which are on the Legislative Schedule for November 2023, and, as a highlight of this year, the drafting of the Land Law.

It’s good that the regime describes the norm that regulates the land as the “main course.” It is a pity, however, that this Land Law, the most urgent and necessary one, is the last of the projects that are intended to be undertaken this year. Although little or nothing is known about what is intended with this rule, its content could be essential to change the state of the agricultural sector and give it a boost, as long as the obsolete ideologies that prevent the economy from functioning better are left behind. If they miss the opportunity to turn the agricultural sector around by 180 degrees, as happened with the aforementioned Livestock Law, which left the crucial issue of cattle ownership undecided, everything will be as usual, and the problems will remain unresolved.

The Land Law must act, from the perspective of a new legal framework for land ownership rights in Cuba, as the core of reference of the policies and regulatory frameworks of the sector, even if it goes against the provisions of the communist constitution of 2019. Constitutions are born to be modified, and the Cuban government could start such a process.

The regime recognizes that its agricultural policies and legal norms don’t mean immediate food on the table for Cubans. And they are right, in view of the failures, but this is not because those policies are unable to remove obstacles to producers and give incentives and bonuses to agricultural and forestry activity, but because the land should be the property of those who really work it and make it productive.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

In these 64 years of communist regime, Cuba has barely received emigrants from abroad, unlike the situation before 1959. The ideology of the regime has not given explanations for either process, that of departure, or that of arrival. Not even Haitians stranded on the eastern beaches of the Island want to stay in the workers’ paradise. Cuba doesn’t interest anyone. I stress, the ideology of the regime has never addressed these issues.

Ernesto Soberón has before his eyes one of the largest diasporas in the world, both quantitative and qualitative, and his position is that of a blind person. He questions the new immigration measures of the Biden administration to develop regulatory avenues for an orderly migration, and, instead of assuming that something has to be done, he shields himself in attacking the United States government, because, in his opinion, these new measures will bring new consequences for those who don’t abide by them.

What leads Soberón to say this kind of thing? Well, it’s very simple. His ideological blindness prevents him from stating that the problem of the departure of Cubans abroad exists in the essence of the communist regime itself and the negative influence it exerts on the freedoms and economic aspirations of a large part of Cuban society.

It’s not a matter of changing immigration regulations but of understanding that if Cubans have been leaving Cuba for 64 years it’s because there is a regime on the Island that forces them to flee. And it should not be forgotten that when a Haitian, a Nicaraguan or a Honduran goes to another country to work and live, they can return to theirs when they want, and, in fact, many do after living abroad.

On the other hand, many Cubans from the diaspora could not return and died in exile, and others don’t return to Cuba because they don’t want to live in a destroyed country, or they are “regulated” and prevented from returning. The regime has also exercised repression against Cubans who decided to leave the country. Cuban intelligence abroad, one of the largest in the world, has been fully provided with economic resources whose expense has never been spared.

And if there is ideological blindness in the regime about explaining the diaspora, which is an international shame for the Cuban communist state worldwide, when it comes to distorting reality the regime has gained experience, and, at the present time, gaining time has become an absolute priority.

The decisions of the Biden administration come at the right time, because from now on, Cubans and nationals of other Latin American countries, who irregularly cross the border with Panama, Mexico or the United States, will not be able to benefit from the parole process and will be expelled to Mexican territory.

This decision aims to put order in irregular emigration and was consented to by several governments of Central America. It is an escape valve for Cubans who want to leave the country, but it has allowed Soberón to use the regime’s best weapon: propaganda.

Therefore, measures that regulate emigration for Soberón should be “a more rational policy on the part of the United States and the comprehensive compliance with the migratory agreements signed that demonstrated, in 2017, that it is possible to drastically reduce the irregular, disorderly and unsafe emigration of Cuban citizens to American territory.”

What does Soberón call a more normal migratory relationship? The avenues that were opened for Cuba in Obama’s time, such as temporary visits between the two countries, which, in his opinion, could “decrease the migratory potential and attempts to enter the United States by means and with irregular practices, favoring communication between Cuban families.” Cubans who leave Cuba don’t want temporary solutions; they flee the prison island leaving everything behind.

And not happy with this relief, Soberón declares that “the Cuban authorities have warned the United States government for years about the risks of encouraging irregular emigration, with the validity of the Cuban Adjustment Law and the privileged and politically motivated treatment that Cubans who arrive on U.S. territory or its border receive.” How old is Soberón? What alerts is he talking about when just 25 or 30 years ago the communist border guards were shooting at compatriots trying to flee the regime?

Soberón also describes as negative for migration “the unjustified non-compliance since 2017 of the commitment to grant a minimum of 20,000 visas per year and the also unjustified closure of visa processing at the United States Embassy in Cuba,” but he does not say why those services were suspended (sonic attacks on embassy employees) or that the process has now returned to normal.

The truth is that Cuba maintains migratory relations with numerous countries, such as Spain, but Cubans in mass prefer to settle in the United States. This is another message that Soberón doesn’t explain but that should be very clear because it’s the one that is the most resounding about the failure of the political regime in Havana. And from there he blames the massive departure of Cubans at the present time for the strengthening of the economic blockade and the deterioration of economic conditions, which is the responsibility only of the regime. It doesn’t matter; for 64 years there have always been Cubans wanting to escape the regime.

Soberón reaffirms that “Cuba’s migration policy facilitates the travel of its nationals abroad and their return to Cuba, in a regular, orderly and safe manner. The sustained increase in travel, in one way or another, before and after the pandemic, confirms it.”

Stay with this phrase, “regular, orderly and safe migration between Cuba and the United States” because there will be a lot of talk about it in the coming months. Havana has discovered that, in addition to the embargo, it can attack the northern neighbor on this issue. It has already started.

In reality, when almost 300,000 Cubans get rid of everything they have, say goodbye to their families forever and throw themselves into the sea on rafts or into the adventure of the Central American jungle to reach the United States, there is something that does not work in Cuba.

This is a phenomenon that is not a matter of migration rules or bilateral agreements with the United States, whether or not they can be complied with. Rather, there are very profound reasons why people react this way.  In their country there is no future; there is nothing they can do; the state has failed, and so they throw themselves abroad in search of freedom. Soberón should rectify this situation.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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We are facing an impeccable judicial decision that establishes that the four cruise companies Carnival, MSC S.A., Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, which use the port facilities of Havana, committed “acts of trafficking” that are perfectly typified in Title III of the Helms Burton Act, so that no one can say they were deceived.

Using the port facilities that had been confiscated by the Cuban communist regime falls within that category typified in the Law. In addition, the court decision established that they carried out “forbidden tourism” practices by bringing American travelers to Cuba and using the port facilities of Havana.

And here we have the Cuban communist leaders who wake up to a reality that will end up providing justice, because it is not possible to raise a political regime with propaganda and lies announcing the arrival of justice, when at the same time, vandalism and criminal acts against property rights are committed from power, which are permanent and never expire when exercised by their legitimate owners.

What does it matter that it was not Fidel Castro, but his regime that ordered confiscations and nationalizations, if it is the same now as then? If the sovereignty of the regime at that time was to take over the rights of private property, then the time has come to restore the rights and prevent such practices from being maintained without punishment.

Removing history is not what should be done, but looking to the future knowing that outrages were committed that have to be compensated so that the economic system can continue to function. And the worst thing is to misrepresent the facts. The confiscation action of the revolution was so rapid with the economic interests of U.S. citizens in Cuba, that this country did not have time to react.

It is not true that the issue of nationalized properties would never be negotiated, nor that it prohibited the affected companies from negotiating. The social pressure and the disturbances of that time were so alarming that many managers had to escape the country on the first flight, leaving everything behind.

Then when some procedures of the commission of claims were negotiated, there were so many requests for compensation that the regime recognized only 5,911, but there were four or five times more (since many were eliminated on the fly), and many others do not even appear in the files. The processes established by the revolutionary regime were so slow and cumbersome that they immediately led to protests from those affected.

Then, to top it all off, the regime, far from recognizing its attacks and the most absolute contempt for private property of the first moments of revolutionary fervor, dictated Law 851, complementary to the Fundamental Law of 1959, which established the principle of forced expropriation due to public utility, through which it took ownership from Cubans in several phases that reached to 1968 with the so-called Revolutionary Offensive.

It should not be forgotten that all legislation confiscating property rights arose from an absolute lack of legitimacy, based only on the revolutionary decision to legislate giving the ongoing process a constituent character, when it never had it. In this illegal and illegitimate way, the private productive capital of the nation was destroyed, and the processes of compensation for the enormous amount of nationalized property were annulled or delayed over time.

To gain time, the communists devised bonds of the Republic, junk bonds devoid of solvency and certainty (they would be paid over 30 years at an interest of 2% per year, a financial mockery), issued by the regime, that were not in the interest of the expropriated parties as a means of payment.

At the same time, experts were appointed to assess the confiscated assets who, from the first moment, had no choice but to obey the communist slogans. Not even the fund created in the National Bank of Cuba, called the “Fund for the payment of expropriations of goods and companies of nationals of the United States of America,” contributed to solving a conflict that has lasted 63 years.

The reason? Very simple. That fund, non-existent at the time of its creation, would be financed every year by 25% of the foreign currency that corresponded to the sugar purchases that the U.S. made each year from Cuba. That is, the regime intended that the U.S., after the outrages committed against its nationals, would continue to pay for the sugar harvest.

It was impossible, because from the first moment, the U.S. stopped buying “Cuban white gold,” ending favorable economic relations that existed for more than 30 years. And the communists blame their northern neighbor for making the compensation for confiscations impossible with that decision. It’s too much nitpicking.

The sanction of cruise ships decreed by the Florida judge sends two messages to the Havana regime. First, the litigation has not died, and it remains present until the thousands of citizens and companies are compensated for the theft of their property rights. Sovereign justice is here to fulfill this mission. And second, that the fine transfers to potential investors of the Cuban regime with whom they have to talk and agree on any economic decision that has a future in a democratic Cuba.

And of course, as could not be otherwise, Cuban communists can only stamp their feet. In a demagogic way, the communist state press wonders how it is possible that, in the country of freedom, there exists one “forbidden tourism” and another “authorized,” and they thus question the freedom to travel. Foolish argument. The first thing they have to understand in Havana is that the governments of all countries maintain restrictions or recommendations to nationals so that they don’t travel to certain countries, and there are many reasons. It is not surprising that the U.S. wants its citizens to travel safely abroad.

The communist regime of Havana is insecure, by nature, because it does not respect the division of powers, and all decisions are political and go through the single-party regime. What security do those who travel to such a country have? In addition, for more than four decades, which Cubans could really travel abroad and where? None. It was the years of the Cold War, when the Havana regime banned the exit, and Cubans fled the prison island as best they could. It should be remembered that the freedom of departure came a few years ago, with Raúl Castro.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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COLLABORATE WITH OUR WORK: The 14ymedio team is committed to practicing serious journalism that reflects Cuba’s reality in all its depth. Thank you for joining us on this long journey. We invite you to continue supporting us by becoming a member of 14ymedio now. Together we can continue transforming journalism in Cuba.

The authorities have assured there will be alcoholic beverages, beer, cocktails, elaborate dishes and other affordable items for the popular recreational and dance activities that will be held until January 3, but people say that no one is interested in parties because they have other concerns, and most likely that stipend won’t reach the most vulnerable sectors, such as the older population, who, for health reasons, don’t attend a lot of parties and activities.

Cubans begin 2023 with great concern about the distribution of the regulated family basket for the month of January and are afraid of the worst. It’s true that in some areas of the country the delivery began on December 28, but the reality is that there are doubts that it will reach all citizens. And what is worse, the overdue distributions, such as coffee and preserves, are still in the same stagnation of oblivion, and no one expects them to be recovered at this time.

But, without a doubt, the protagonist of the regulated basket has been the delivery of the December chicken, which also includes the overdue distributions. Finding chicken on the closing day of 2022 has meant getting up early for many Cubans, to get a turn in the line and another turn for 7 or 8 in the afternoon, when they hope that quarter-chicken will last for a few days.

To think that most of that chicken comes from the purchases that Cuba makes from the United States every month! And the same happens with canned meats, picadillo and sausages; although, certainly, chicken has been the undisputed protagonist.

The anxiety of the people finds fertile soil because the regime announced recently that financial limitations in the industry caused delays in the import of raw material for the manufacture of the 2023 ration books. So it has been impossible to “manufacture the ration books” and distribute them in most provinces on a timely basis.

Yes. You heard right. Now ration books are not manufactured in Cuba. The model is completely destroyed and does not support fixes. Artemisa, Mayabeque, Matanzas, Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Ciego de Ávila, Camagüey, Las Tunas, Holguín, Granma, Guantánamo and the special municipality Isla de la Juventud, and partially in Pinar del Río, Havana and Santiago de Cuba: all complain that the ration books are not there nor are they expected.

And although the authorities launch messages saying that the purchase of the products of the regulated family basket for the month of January is guaranteed, and also, if needed, in February  2023 by using the 2022 ration book, the situation has aroused a lot of concern among those who suffer from the permanent shortage that exists in the country.

Such is the anxiety of the population that instructions have been given for the notation of the products to be delivered in those months without ration books, to be done on certain pages of the 2022 ration book. The people don’t trust this with good reason, because it’s most likely that the affected products, such as meat and milk from the family basket, bread, fuel, or medical diets will not reach the shops under the conditions of last year. The delay may be greater than they think and not only due to the lack of ration books.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Internal Trade, responsible for the ration books not being made and for this anguish in the population, limited itself to reporting about the effects on the products and didn’t want to announce specific delivery dates. There was not a single assumption of responsibility on the part of any senior official in the department, despite the harm caused to the population. People scrutinize their old ration books to make sure they are valid on December 31, 2022.

The Ministry’s fixes cause alarm in a population that sees that when it rains it pours. While in other countries the New Year’s holidays are celebrated in freedom and with the required levels of consumption, in Cuba there is an anxious fight for a quarter of chicken, fearing that deliveries, in the absence of the new ration book, will not occur.

This is the actual situation, and no one understands how it is possible that voices of general protest are not raised against that old revolution, which doesn’t do anything but get older, without fulfilling a single one of its objectives. A national disaster. A bad beginning of the year 2023, and the worst is yet to come.

Translated by Regina Anavy

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